Improved broom



J. WISNERQ I Broom. i v No. 55,409. Patentd June 5, 1866;

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STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.IMPROVED BROOM.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,409, dated June 5, 1866.

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To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOEL WISNER, of Aurora, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brooms, and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings of the same, which make part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a broom embracing my invention. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 represents a vertical cross section. Fig. 4 represents a side elevation of the head-block to which the broom-corn whisps are secured, with the casing removed to show the manner of lapping the ends of the broom-cane. Fig. 5 represents one of the broom-whisps detached, showing its thin end bent or lapped over the clamping and holding bar; and Fig. 6 represents atop view of the clamping-bar detached from the broom.

1n the accompanying drawings, A represents the handle of the broom; B, a head-block into which the handle of the broom is secured in any suitable manner and to which the broomcorn whisps are also secured, and O acase for embracing the head-block and the upper ends of the broom-corn whisps. This case is made as light as possible and of a sufficient width, length, and depth to receive and hold compactly the upper portion of the whisps which form the broom, and serves, therefore, to give solidity to that portion of the broom embraced therein, and it is secured to the head-block, around which it is made to fit closely, by screws, D, passing through each side of the case near its upper end.

To secure the broom-whisps in this case and to the broom-handle is the object of my invention, which consists in the employment of a horizontal adjusting-bar, E, within the casein such a manner that the upper or cane ends of the whisps may be bent or folded over it, in combination with the horizontal head-block B, between which and the adjusting-bar the lapped or folded ends are securely clamped and held in place, while this method affords every facility for removing the old and replacing new broom-whisps.

My invention further consistsin securing the broom-whisps by means of the cane ends, by lapping or folding them over the bar which secures them in place.

The lower side of the head-block B is made flat or concave, as desired, and parallel therewith is arranged the adjusting plate or bar E, placed edgewise, as shown in Fig. 3. It is of a length nearly equal to the head-b1ock,'and each end is enlarged so as to allow a screwthread to be cut therein to receive vertical screws F, with thumb-heads, secured to each end of the head-block, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and by means of which the distance between the head-block and the adj listing-bar is effected and maintained. The position of the plate thus arranged is in the center of the case transversely, as shown in Fig. 3, and the cane ends of the whisps being reduced in thickness by being split or shaved off, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, are placed on each side of this central plate, and bent or lapped over it in the space between it and the lower side of the headblock, so that each cane end of the broom-corn embraces both sides of the plate E, while the thicker portion of each cane is only on one side, as shown in Fig. 3, and so in this manner the adjusting-plate is covered with the ends of the broom-whisps from end to end and on both sides between the screw-shanks, all neatly and compactly arranged, and when sufficiently full to fill the inside of the case, (when the latter is secured in place,) the clamping-screws are then turned so as to draw the plate upward, and thus clamp the lapped portion of the cane ends firmly and securely against the lower side of the head-block, so that the whisps of each cane will be held in place as long as the broom lasts; and by securing the ends of the cane, instead of the straws, it will be seen that no other fastenin gs are required to hold the straws in place than the simple clamping-plate and the lower portion of the case 0, thereby simplifying the construction of the broom, and at the same time rendering it more durable than if the cane ends were cut off, as heretofore, and the straws secured by any of the contrivances now in use. The thin ends of the broom-cane are sufficiently tough and pliable to allow ofbeing bent and folded over without breaking them, and the broom may in all respects be as symmetrical as those heretofore made. After the broom is made and the whisps firmly and properly clamped in place the case 0 is then slid over the head-block and secured by the serewsl), and by simply removing the case and releasing the grasp of the plate E on the broom-whisps, by unscrewing the thumbscrews, the broom-whisps may be removed and replaced by new ones, thus making a new broom in such a manner as to require little or no skill in the maker.

The adj ustin g-screwsD are arranged at each end of the head-block, and of course are connected to each end of the plate E, by which arrangement it will be seen that either end of the plate may be tightened independently of the other, in order to compensate for a greater or less thickness of cane at one end or the other, and also by which the plate may be adjusted and tightened from time to time, to compensate screws D, in combination with the fixed headblock, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name.

JOEL WISNER.

Witnesses GEORGE MILLER, ISAAC FAST. 

